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Mercedes debuts new ‘megaphone’ style exhaust in Spain

Mercedes has tested its experimental ‘megaphone’ exhaust on day two of the post-Spanish Grand Prix test.

Following widespread criticism of the volume of the new V6 turbo power units during the early part of the year, the FIA, in association with the teams have been looking at ways to up the engine noise, with Mercedes the first to trial a new ‘louder’ exhaust.

Nico Rosberg gave the new exhaust its track debut on Wednesday morning, in a series of back-to-back runs to compare the engine volume with that created by the old style exhaust.

While Mercedes are the first team to test the new style exhaust on track, Renault and Ferrari have also been involved in the development process.

“We are fully involved and engaged in the work that’s going on, led by the FIA,” Rob White, Renault Sport’s F1 Deputy Managing Director explained to AUTOSPORT.

“Mercedes have shared their initial results from a dyno test of this device and the FIA have got some acoustic consultants who have visited us and have had access to our existing dyno test results, including sound measurements.”

Yet, White added that while the exhaust may well work in amplifying the volume of the new engines, it must not have any undesired effect on performance.

Following a complete full throttle run, Mercedes has confirmed that it will not use the exhaust for the remainder of the final day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

If the teams agree, then this new style exhaust could be made mandatory later this season.